North Korea Vs. the U.S., Minus the Hype Machine

With this week’s 50th anniversary of North Korea’s illegal seizure of the USS Pueblo on Jan. 23, 1968, and the capture of the crew, it’s worth taking a moment to consider how news reporting has changed over the ensuing decades. At the time, coverage in the papers and on television was sober and thoughtful. Items buried deep inside the stories would be headlines today, when informing the public is often less important than winning clicks and eyeballs.

Consider a few examples. North Korean patrol boats intercepted the Pueblo about 10 p.m. Washington time. By 11:45 the ship reported that it was being boarded. At 12:32 a.m., the Pueblo’s radio went off the air. But Walt Rostow, the White House national security adviser, did not reach his office until 1 a.m. He waited a full hour before waking President Lyndon Johnson to tell him what had happened. Rostow’s decision to gather all the facts before informing the commander in chief hardly made the papers. These days, the delay might have been the lead, and cable commentators would have been frothing.